I Protest!!!! we pray

We’ve been on a roller coaster ride of triumph and tragedy around here for the last two weeks, and I’ve been processing on the fly. Random, heartfelt, thoughts based on emotions uncovered by the reality of mortality. I’ll be doing much more contemplation over the weeks and months to come, hopefully, with some wisdom and fortitude of spirit that reveals not what I want or feel, but rather what is of substance beyond what my earthly body and mind can comprehend.

But, for today we face a tough road with the passing of another friend and so I will protest! I will cry with anguish as the people I know and love are literally brought to their knees in pain.

However, I hope we as a community of faith can move beyond this protest and into the realm of life-sustaining prayer…

When in a crisis of war, sudden poverty, illness or death we are confronted with the ‘absurdities of life,’ we can no longer remain neutral and are asked to respond. Often our first and most visible response is a protest bursting forth from our bewilderment. It is at these crucial moments of life that we are reminded again of our illusions and asked to convert our protest into prayer. This is a very hard task, but a task leading us not away from reality but closer to it. —Henri Nouwen